


Self-Destruct

by ApplesOfAvalon



Series: I'm dead and Upstanding Yuck killed me [3]
Category: Yin Yang Yo!
Genre: Gen, since UY aired my life has not known peace, so now i'm making my pain everyone's problem, ten years later and i'm still sad about my favorite bun.....he didn't deserve That(TM), the next day snakes physically manifested in my house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApplesOfAvalon/pseuds/ApplesOfAvalon
Summary: You tried to be gentle. You tried to be kind. In the end, you found out it made you even more cruel.
Series: I'm dead and Upstanding Yuck killed me [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725634





	Self-Destruct

**Author's Note:**

> i don’t really have anything to say about this. It was supposed to be some kind of continuation to Sanatorium but….i don’t know. Still wanted to get it out of my system though (and hey, at least it's not fucking INCEST)
> 
> so uhhhhhhh enjoy??

“You know what you must do now, child?”

They surround him from all sides, cold blue hands and black void under their hoods. Yet he knows they’re all staring at him, a jury looking down and waiting for a verdict, a sentence to deliver.

But Yuck isn’t afraid. Despite the dull ache underneath his gi, his bandages, his chest, he feels nothing but gratitude.

“I do.” Aquamarine fingers running through soft fur of the same hue, combing it. So quiet, so gentle, so unlike his former self. “I must atone for all the evil deeds I’ve done, and then commit myself to making this world a better place!”

“Correct.” Which one of them spoke? Maybe they all spoke at once. Maybe he’ll never know. “You’ve done many terrible things, and until you atone for each and every one of them, you’ll continue to be evil. A menace to society. Completely worthless.”

His smile does not falter, but his eyes have gone dull. _“……Worthless.”_

“Yes.” The circle shrinks as they approach, herding Yuck towards the exit. A hand rests on his shoulder, and his smile still does not falter even as a chill runs down his spine and his eyes suddenly feel strangely damp. “Your past will continue to follow you wherever you go. Which is why you must do everything in your power to distance yourself from it.”

For the first time in….as long as he can remember, the doors open just ahead.

He swears he’s never seen the sky so clear and blue.

He turns around to face the Peaceful House of Readjustment one last time. They’re still standing there, looming, blotting out the sun.

“Always remember to smile.”

It’s the last thing they say to him before kicking him out. And even as he tumbles down the hills and the dull pain under the bandages becomes sharper, he keeps their words close to his heart and smiles all the way down.

—————

_When Yuck closes his eyes that night, the last thing he sees are the stars. When he opens them again, the first thing he sees are stage lights._

_He stands on the stage of a theater, endless rows of empty seats before him. And next to him, right in the center of the spotlight, is a cage; it holds something - someone - inside, but not even the lights above that point right at it can disperse the shadows enough to make out a shape._

_Not that he needs it, though. He knows those amber eyes better than anyone._

_“Come to see the freakshow?”_

_“Please don’t talk about yourself like that.” His voice is kind and free of fear as he places a hand on the cage, but it only makes the other cower and hiss away from it. “It’s not nice.”_

_“In case you haven’t noticed, **I’m** not nice.”_

_He hesitates, hands lingering on the cage bars. He wants to say something, but the words won’t come out, stuck in his throat like a know that keeps getting tighter. Instead, he slowly steps away from the cage. “…I know. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? I can fix this. I can fix us.”_

_The darkness shifts, and reveals sharp ivories twisted into a snarl. “You’re making a mistake.”_

_“You’re one to talk, after all the mistakes you’ve done.” Yuck’s tone is not malicious or cruel, but he notices his other self flinching nonetheless. “I’m not making a mistake, I’m fixing yours! I just want-”_

_“I WANT **OUT!** ” The cage rattles, the lights flicker, the stage shudders. Yuck nearly trips as he steps back, eyes widened as his other self struggles to break free, a mess of gnashing teeth and blazing eyes. “You won’t even make it to five seconds! You’re too weak! You **NEED** me!”_

_He just stares in shock, watching the other bite and scratch his prison like a wild animal. Other people in his position would find a sight like that terrifying; they’d think his other self was a disgusting monster._

_But he doesn’t feel fear, or anger, or disgust._

_“You’re wrong.” Those words paralyze the other, but he doesn’t stop. He needs to hear it. They **both** need to hear it. “I don’t need you. No one needs you. Not anymore.”_

_He assumes the other will lash out again, deny his words and spit on him. But instead he watches the rage drain out of him like a candle in the wind, his shadowy form curling against the farthest corner of the cage._

_He just feels pity._

_“But it’s OK! Don’t be sad!” Yuck takes it as his cue to step closer. The other doesn’t react when he kneels down next to him; only slightly flinches when he places a hand on the cage bars with a gentle smile. “This is exactly what we needed, don’t you see? I can set things right. We’re finally going to be happy!”_

_Amber meets amber._

_One is full of hesitation, the other full of hope._

_“We’re finally going to be free.”_

—————

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

This was supposed to be his big redemption, his chance at setting things right. He was supposed to show off the statue he spent days working on. He was supposed to win the town’s approval. He was supposed to win Yin and Yang’s trust. He was supposed to be finally, truly happy.

It wasn’t supposed to **hurt**.

Yuck can’t even tell them to stop; it’s one punch after punch, kick after kick, making new wounds and reopening old ones (he hasn’t even fully healed after nearly two months since he left), every plea stuck in his throat and he can’t even breathe right-

He hears the townspeople screaming, watching his punishment. Or maybe the screams are his. He can’t register anything but pain.

_…What did he do **wrong?**_

Blue and pink blur in and out of his vision, blending together and dissolving into black robes, hoods overflowing with nothingness. A stronger, sharper pain, blossoming in his chest like shards of glass-

_-Lights shining down on the stage, filtering through cell bars that close down on him from all sides. No matter how much he shakes and punches the bars, all it gains him are more bruises and cuts. Someone is sobbing, and it takes too long to realize the noise is coming out of him._

_“You had your fun?”_

_The voice Yuck recognizes, but there’s something in its tone that he doesn’t and it scares him. Pressing his back into the farthest wall, he looks at the rabbit silhouette in front of him, pale green fur and torn gi appearing stark white against the light._

_“It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” He begs, hands rattling the cage bars. He shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be happening. Everything is wrong, wrong, **wrong-** “I have to go back! I can fix this!”_

_“I told you, didn’t I?” Why does the other’s voice sound so unsettling? Why won’t he step closer? Why can’t he stop shaking all of a sudden, his heart threatening to burst? “I knew you couldn’t handle it. Everything we went through…for nothing.”_

_He steps forward until Yuck can see his face, and the sight is more terrifying than anything he’s ever seen._

_More terrifying than the shark’s grin that threatens to split the other’s face, than the look in his eyes that borders between happiness and hatred, are the tears rolling down his cheeks that streak pale green with aquamarine and refuse to stop._

_“But hey, what else is new for us?”_

_Behind him, the endless seats before the stage are full of black cloaks and clawed hands, empty laughter behind empty hoods._

_“Please.” He can barely talk, it’s so hard to breathe, it’s so hard to think through the fear- “Please, I can fix this. I can get through them, just listen to me!”_

_“Aw, it’s OK! Don’t be sad!” The other laughs - and he can swear he can see rows and rows of sharp teeth, more than he should have, more than what is normal - and if it weren’t for the tears that keep running down his face he’d think he’s actually happy. “This is how it’s meant to be, don’t you see?They want a villain so badly, that’s exactly what I’ll give them. We’ll do what we were always meant to do!”_

_The lights die out. The laughter grows louder, closer. Only the other’s face remains, rows of teeth like knives and eyes that show an emotion he can’t name but makes him sick to his stomach._

_Amber meets amber._

_One is full of fear, the other full of madness._

**_“We’re finally going to be free.”_ **


End file.
